Happy Jane Austen's 230th birthday everyone. :)

My dad, who HATES all things British (or at least he says he does to spite me and my mother, who is a fellow anglophile,) went to Pride and Prejudice under duress with my mom a few days ago. He called me right after the film to say he loved the film and the story and the locations. Also, he now has a mini-crush on KK and one on Pemberley (he really loved those houses.) I can't figure out when the pod people grabbed him exactly, as he has offered to go see it again with me when I am home for Christmas!! I am not complaining about this; it just is entirely unexpected.

I learned today from the Writers' Almanac on NPR that after World War I, they used to read Jane Austen's books to English soldiers recovering from shell shock. Doctors discovered that the books helped the soldiers to find a way to reconnect to the world that they had known before the war. I wish that someone had passed that information on to Septimus Smith in Mrs. Dalloway before things got so bad.

Winter Wonderland

As you may have heard, read, got caught in, there was a wicked blizzard here in Boston on Friday. Thunder, lightning and blinding snow. I can't ever remember another snow storm accompanied by lightning. It turned my 3.5 mile commute down Memorial Drive and over the BU bridge into Allston from a 15 minute ride into a 2 hour one. On the upside, I made friends with the lady in the red minivan that was beside me. After observing me observing her laughing at something in her car, we ended up rolling down our windows and having a lovely chat about the the nice men pushing cars out of the icy slush and seeing the Christmas spirit in action. I also spent two hours listening to NPR, catching up on the news of "The World". We had to have gotten about 10 inches worth of snow by 3:00 p.m.

I nearly slid off the road twice, but I managed to get home in one piece and made myself hot chocolate, threw on my pajamas and watched "Rudolph" and "Frosty" on dvd as I put together holiday cards. Regardless of the date on the birth certificate, it is pretty obvious that I am nine. Between the holiday cartoons and the Christmas music, that stuff still able to hold some magic for me.

I think that it is pretty ridiculous that you HAVE to have iTunes installed to use QuickTime (as I just learned trying to check out the X3 preview.) Apple Co., that reeks of desperation; you will never win me over to iPod, iTunes or their limited use files. I loves me my little Creative Zen.

Why parents shouldn't be allowed to go to the cinema: my mother decided to use Pride and Prejudice as an example of why I should "take a risk" and do online dating again.
BLASPHEMY!!! Sorry, Mom, but Lizzie Bennet + Mr.Darcy do not= eharmony.com

Boston beat

I had to go out of the office at lunch time today for an appointment at the chiropractors. Because the doctor's office is about a half hour drive from work, I take a long lunch hour and have been known to pop into the drive through at the MacDonald's next door for a lunchtime treat. Has anyone else noticed the rising cost of lunch at MacDonald's? I had a small McNuggets and a small shake, and it cost nearly $6. So much for fast and cheap. The service today was neither. Still, it was real tasty.
::Stop shaking your heads. I went to the gym yesterday and am going again tomorrow morning.::

Too late after my tire popping episode on the streets of Boston, I found out that the City will allow you to make a claim against them for pothole damage to your car! You have to be within the time frame, and they have to have known about the pothole beforehand. (Personally, I think that they should take your word for it. This city is LITTERED with potholes.)

I made the mistake of going to the Boston Crime website and looking at the entry for my neighborhood. Sister K asked me the other night if I felt safe walking around my neighborhood at night, and I assured her that I had never had any problems other than the occassional leer, unlike Sister B who gets harrassed by US Airmen while walking her dog at dusk in Virginia, although that is another story. But now, I feel a little more concerned about the 'hood, especially when you read things like: Sun, 11/13/05 9:00:00 PM ASSAULT & BATTERY D/W - OTHER ON MY CORNER!! on a Sunday night!!! (although maybe somehow it was football related. That would be okay.)

It all comes back to Douglas Adams

Driving into work at 6:30 am this morning, I heard this story on NPR's "Morning Edition" about scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration trying to figure out what's been causing recent deaths of bottlenose dolphins of the coast of Florida.

During the course of the story, we learn that dolphins are being captured, given very thorough physicals including tubes down the throat and blubber removal, and then branded before being put back into the water.

Personally, after treatment like that, I am surprised that they like even the tiny tots and the pregnant women.

Sunday Matinee

Yesterday, JR and I went to the Brattle to see Serenity, which, for those of you not completely addicted to smart tv, is the film based on the Joss Whedon TV series "Firefly."  I enjoyed it a lot and regretted not watching the show when it was on TV, although I remember at the time, I was watching WAY too much TV and therefore was not getting myself involved in yet another Whedon-verse.

The second to last reel of the film was corrupted so the sound kept going out.  As JR said, "if this were the Common, I would have asked for the money back but as this was the Brattle,"... we basically grit our teeth and bear it. Oh indie theater, I must love you lots because there is nothing worse than watching a major outer space dogfight scene when the sound keeps giving out, as I had learned the hard way when I went to see Star Wars: Episode 3.

Trivia fact:  2004 Nobel Prize winning physicist Frank Wilczek was at our screening as well.  That made me happy.  Because I am one big nerd.

Caffeine withdrawal

I had been trying to catch up cut back on my Diet Coke intake this semester as it had been pretty bad last April and May, averaging about five or six 12oz cans of the stuff a day. Usually, I had one in my hand with a spare "hidden" in my suit jacket pocket. This was not good.

So I cut back over the course of the summer down to one 14oz bottle of DC a day and the rest was water. It got to the point where a 12oz can of soda was a dessert at the end of the day. I was feeling better, sleeping better and even my dentist said that my teeth and gums looked better.

Can you see where this is going?

The stress has finally gotten to me, and I am back on the Diet Coke full force. I tried not to drink any today and feel AWFUL. What the heck do they PUT in that stuff? It is like crack! and I am hooked! I had to have three chocolate truffles just to get my head to stop splitting (don't laugh, faithful readers;the Advil I took didn't work.) Now I am ready to go home, with an hour and fifteen still left on the clock. I hope that I can make it until then.

Tuesday CD releases

I discovered today that all of the "House" series from PBS are available on Netflix. This means that I can watch Manor House and Regency House Party over and over and over...
This news should not make me as happy as it does.

I went across the river to Virgin Records to pick up the new Madonna and the new Pride and Prejudice soundtrack. SIGH. Mr. Darcy. SIGH. I also picked up a copy of the December issue of Empire, which posed a bit of a quandry as I had to choose betwen the Harry Potter cover and the Aslan cover. Who came up with that idea?!? Would you ask a carbaholic to choose between mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese?!?! I mean, really! Anyhow, I chose Harry Potter, simply because it comes out on Friday.

When I was paying for my items, the guy at the register called me "ma'am", and that bothered me. Do I really look old enough to be a "ma'am"?? (That was hypothetical.) C'mon, guy, I am still a punk rocker at heart. Do you call Henry Rollins "sir"? Okay, you probably SHOULD because he might kick your ass or something.